Press



F. THVOZ May 17 1927.

PRESS Filed Deo. 22. 1925 HIINHFHL Patented May 17, 1927.

UNITED sr'rss' FREDERIC TBIVOZ, 0F GENEVA, SWITZERLAND.

PRESS.

Application led December 22, 1925.

This invention relates broadly to the art of printing and especially tothat branch of the printing art wherein different colors or patterns aresuccessively applied to the sheet to be printed to produce a completecomposite impression.A More particularly the invention relates todevices by which such composite impression may be obtained and has forits object the provision of a plurality of devices applying diii'erentimpressions arranged in series wit-h conveying and drying mechanism fora sheet therebetween. l'n accordance with the invention a pluralityofvprinting mechanism or the like are adapted to apply ditl'erentimpressions respectively to sheets, say of paper.l and these mechanismsare arranged in series with suitable conveying and drying devices vforthe paper between the respective printing mechanisms. The conveying anddrying devices between each two presses may take the form of a pluralityof reciprocating? constantly rotating endless bands and clevices bywhich the sheets are transferred from one band to an adjacent onewhereby the sheets are given a circuitous path or travel from oneprinting mechanism to tne next in the series. During the transportationof the sheets upon the bands they may be subjected to a drying operationby blasts or jets of air, if desired of predetermined temperature, andthese blasts of air may be relied upon, in some instances, to'maintainthe sheets in contact with the conveying devices particularly when theendless bands fare traveling in'a substantially vertically direction. y

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect the same will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferredembodiment thereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a somewhat schematic view showing a plurality of impressionapplying devices between which the sheets upon which the impression ismade are conveyed and dried in accordance with the present invention.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are views illustrating various positions taken by thedifferent conveying and drying devices in the transfer of the sheetsbetween the printing mechanisms.

In the drawings only two ink applying mechanisms are illustrated but itwill be understood that this number may be multi- Serial No. 77,160.

plied according to the number of colorsor impressions required to makeup the composite product.

A stack a of individual sheets a is brought to the tirst printingmechanism upon a truck or the like Z1 from whence the support b may beengaged with vertically moving conveying devices c adapted to graduallyraise the stack, as indicated at-A, for the removal ot" the topmostsheet. From the stack the topn'iost sheet is removed by an suitabledevices such as grippers or a suction device Z and is transferred to theinclined feeding table e down which the sheet moves either under theaction of gravity or by means of traveling tapes or rollers to thepressure cylinder f where it is engaged in known manner by gripper-s orthe like and is conveyed into contact with the engraving cylinder g. Thecylinder g is supplied with ink, as will be understood, by the inkingroll g turning constantly in the ink container q2 and the requisiteamount of ink on the cylinder g is determined by the controlling elementg3. From the pressure roll f the sheet is transferred in known manner tothe conveyingpcylinder l1, from whence it is transferred to thetraveling conveyer i as shown in Figure 2. The sheet is not onlyconveyed along the length of the conveyer by means say of the travelingendless belt i but the conveyer as a whole reciprocates from a positionat the right immediately beneath roll h, as shown in Fi ure 2, to aposition at the. left as shown in igure 1. Thus the sheet from roll hFigure 2, is fed to the conveyor z' which immediately commences movingto the left in the direction of the arrow the endless belt z" inthefmeantime conveying the paper to the left end as viewed in Figure 2and projecting it over the end of the conveyor where it is engaged bythe gripper j. The conveyor 'i at once moves to the right as shown bythe arrow ai allowing the sheet to be directed downwardly either by itsown weightor by a pivotal action of the gripper about its pivot j to bepicked up by the conveyor k.

So soon as the sheet is supported bythe conveyor lc itis released by thegripper j and the traveling belt lo conveys the paper to the right(Figure 3) for engagement by the grlpper l similar in every respect withthe gripper c. In its passage to the gripper lf: the ink is subjected toa drying operation by air m blown from a plurality of jets fm.

' belt n the sheet is conveyed, if desired, be-

neath another blast of air 0, beneath, if desired, a walk p for anattendant of the presses and upwardly to the feeding table E of the nextpress, where the same operations are repeated.

It will be observed that by the time the sheets have passed beneaththedrying devices m and'o they are at the comparatively low level Nwhile the table E is at a much higher level. To convey the sheets to thehigher level the belt n is deflected upwardly at the ulleys n', 'n.2 andbetween them and the pu ley n travels in a direction only a few degreesfrom the 4lvertieal. A plura ity ,of jets of air g are directed againstthe belt 'and this blast of air is availed of not only to contribute tothe drying of the ink but also aids naturally in maintaining the contactof the sheet within the conveyor whereby the sheet may be carriedupwardly and deflected onto the table by the deector 1'. If desired,additional endless tapes s may be driven in synchronism with the beltfn,

to assist in holdingthe sheets in contact with 'the belt n in its upwardtravel.

By the structure described individual sheets may have a compositeimpression applied thereon by a -process which does not involve manualsteps and the sheets ma be transported and simultaneously drie initransit betweenthe impression applying de- 4 vices.

The various actuating mechanisms for the grip ing devices, printingrolls and tra-veling elts have not been illustrated in the drawingssince these may take any desired form and are well known in the art.

The invention is not to be deemed limited vto the precise form orcombination` of elements illustrated in the drawing -as going to make upthe composite impression apply- `-tween each two partly in a.substantially ing device as a whole, but various combinations andsub-combinations of the essential features may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

l. In an apparatus for forming a composite impression upon a sheet,incombination, a plurality of reciprocating endless bands between eachtwo devices, means to transfer a sheet from one band to another, means'to direct air against the sheet when on a band, and means to transferthe sheet from a band to a succeeding device.

2. In an apparatus for-forming a composite impression, in combination, aplurality of proximate devices for applying impressions arranged inseries, a plurality of superimposed reci rocating endlessbands beevices,means to transfer a sheet from oneband to another, means to direct airagainst the sheet when on a band, and means to transfer the sheet from aband to a succeeding device.

3. In an apparatus for forming a composite impression, in combination, aplurality of proximate devices for applying impressions arranged inseries, a plurality of superimposed reciprocating endless bands betweeneach two devices, means to transfer a sheet from a device to theuppermost band, means to direct air against the sheet when von a band,and means to transfer the sheet from the lowermost band to a succeedingdevice.

4. In an apparatus for forming a composite impression, in combination, aplurality of proximate devices for appgying impressions arranged inseries, a plur ity of superimposed reciprocating endlessbands betweeneach two devices, means to transfer a sheet from a device to theuppermost band, and endless band to receive the sheets from thelowermost reciprocating band extending vertical direction means todirect jets of air against the sheets when on the substantially verticalportion of the band, and means to transfer a sheet from the last namedportion-to a succeeding device. A

This s ecitication signed this 20th day of Nov., A. 1925.

4 FREDERIC THEVOZ

